Having worked as an actor in his native Mexico since childhood, Gael Garcîa Bernal (Rene Saavedra) made his feature film debut in Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu's Academy Award®- nominated "Amores Perros". His breakthrough performance in the universally acclaimed film earned him a Silver Ariel Award (Mexico's equivalent of the Oscar) as well as a Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, both as Best Actor.

Gael Garcia Bernal's next film role was in another globally celebrated feature, Alfonso Cuaron's Academy Award®-nominated "Y Tu Mama Tambien," starring opposite his lifelong friend Diego Luna. For their performances, the two friends were jointly voted the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the Venice International Film Festival. In 2008 he starred alongside Diego Aluna again in "Rudo y Cursi."

He subsequently starred in the title role of Carlos Carrera's Academy Award-nominated romantic drama "El Crimen del padre Amaro". His performance earned him the Silver Goddess Award for Best Actor from the Mexican Cinema Journalists, as well as a nomination from the Chicago Film Critics‘ Association for Most Promising Performer.

Since 2004, Gael Garcia Bernal has starred in important films like "The Motorcycle Diaries" directed by Walter Salles, "La Mala Educacion" directed by Pedro Almodovar and "Babel" directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu.

In addition to acting, Gael Garcia Bernal has taken on the roles of both director and producer. He founded the production company Canana, with his close friend, actor Diego Luna and producer Pablo Cruz. Canana was established in order both to further the awareness of the popularity of Mexican Cinema and to prove that Mexican Independent films can find local audiences as well.

In 2009 Bernal starred in "The Limits of Control" with Tilda Swinton and directed by Jim Jarmusch as well as Mammoth" with Michelle Williams and directed by Lukas Moodysson. In 2010, he starred in "Even the Rain" directed by Icíar Bollaín and "Letters to Juliet" with Amanda Seyfried. Recently, Gael starred in "Casa de Mi Padre" with Will Ferrell and Diego Luna as well as "A Little Bit of Heaven" starring alongside Kate Hudson and Kathy Bates. Currently, he is filming "Hands of Stone" in which he plays Roberto Duran and stars alongside Robert De Niro.

Is Rene Savvedra a symbol of the time he lived in? Or is he a symbol of what we are living today?

Rene is a character that is inherent to the context that he lived in, but at the same time, is also eternal; he symbolizes the political awakening of an apparently apolitical person. Being as he is, a consequence of the politics lived by his parents – exile, persecution, the feeling of always being a foreigner -, during the story, he inadvertently seeks to redeem himself with the political side, which is called forth in order to change his immediate surroundings. I feel that this rite of maturity is a recurrent passage in human beings, which appears when one realizes that it is possible to change things first handedly.

What was the NO campaign’s best move, considering its political and advertising dimension?

The NO campaign's best move was to take advantage of, on one hand, the neoliberal system implemented by the dictatorship to its convenience, and on the other, the democratization of the massive media in the rudimentary state that it was back then. One may say that they overtook the right wing from both the left and the right. They appealed to optimism and to happiness in a country submerged in the painful shock of its recent politics.

Pinochet is the only known dictator in recent history who has stepped down from power through a democratic election. How do you see Savvedra from that place?

I think that what was achieved at that moment was one of the most important and pure acts of fraternity that democracy has lived in the world. While knowing that they were entering an election that was largely considered to be fraudulent from the very beginning, they trusted that it was worth the sacrifice to show their faces for once and for all: for themselves, for their parents, for their children. This is where Saavedra, in my opinion, turns into a heroic and plausible being. Long live Saavedra. I miss him already.

Alfredo Castro (Lucho Guzman) was born in Santiago de Chile. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Acting from Universidad de Chile. Currently, he works as a theatre director, actor, pedagogue, playwright, and founder of Teatro La Memoria. In 2006, the theatre company founded the Centro de Investigación Teatral (Center for Theatrical Investigation) and the Sala de Teatro: Teatro La Memoria (an intimate 100-seat playhouse). Pablo Larraín calls him "the Antonin Artaud of Chile."

In 1989, Castro received a grant from the French Government for advanced professional studies in Theatre Direction in Paris, Strasbourg, and Lyon. He then traveled to London in 1993, with a scholarship from the British Council for professional training in theatre acting at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. In June of 2010, Castro went to Italy to perform alongside distinguished actor Toni Servillo ("Il Divo") in the Italian film "É stato il figlio", directed by Daniele Cipri.

How are Raul Peralta (Tony Manero), Mario Cornejo (Post-Mortem) and Guzman (NO) related?

Raul Peralta, Mario Cornejo and Luis Guzman unite in their loneliness, in their invisibility to those around them, in their relationship of subjection to power. However, what makes them radically different amongst themselves is that Guzman believes and supports an ideology. Guzman is the most harmful and dangerous representative of the Chilean right wing: a social climber, completely lacking in talent, but servile and useful to the dictatorship. Personally, what moved me about this role was his infinite loneliness and the secret hope of someday being able to enter Pinochet's closest and most familiar circle, yet knowing that this shall never happen. Unlike Raul – a being that completely lacks any ideology and who, from a corner of the story, intends to exercise his power over those less privileged than he, and to kill with as much impunity as the dictator- and Mario- a man that from one instant to the next is turned into the protagonist of the most bloody and undesirable story in the Chilean nation purely by the historical circumstances that surround him-, Guzman willingly transits between kindred ideologies with ease: dictatorship and free market. No sentimentalisms, ideals, nor heroic or epic deeds. Just an ideology of free market, trade, and commerce, unable to distinguish a dictatorship from a microwave.

This is your third film set in the same time period. Considering that close to three decades have passed since then, how do you work the perception of time and space?

I don‘t think that they‘re "the same time period". Pablo Larrain's way of telling stories is interesting: in Tony Manero, he narrated the time of strongest repression and cruelty of the dictatorship; later, with Post-Mortem, he narrated the beginnings of this horror; and with NO, he narrated the dictatorship's apparent agony. Apparent, because this continued and continues to operate in Chile, in the shadows of an apparent democracy. Although they take place in similar years, the three films don‘t belong to the same time period. A "period" can take place in a few hours, in a few days. This "period", this dictatorship, with other faces, more "democratic" ones, continues to operate, now as a structure of power and an economic system, through great and powerful economic groups, just as cruel in their segregation and discrimination towards the underprivileged as the awful dictatorship that installed them.

What do you think about the fact that advertising has such a relevant role in current political communication?

This relationship, between politics and propaganda and the agitation of masses, necessary in order to provoke great social changes, has always existed. During World War II, ministries of Propaganda or information were created in European countries, the same in Russia with Lenin, and in Germany with the Nazi movement. The same thing happened in Chile for the plebiscite. The dictatorship had the country's entire communication apparatus at its disposal, and had the support of a large part of the population. Therefore, in order to defeat it, it became necessary for the campaign's creatives to gain access to that large mass of terrified doubters and dissidents, with symbolic messages that would appeal to people's subconscious, instincts, emotions and feelings. To simplify the ideas as much as possible; to use sparse, clear, and concentrated ideas. This is why the slogan for the NO campaign, which was led mainly by young advertising agents, "Happiness is Coming", is, as my character Guzman says, a promise, an ideal for the future, and a change that turned out to be unbeatable. And so it was.

Pablo Larrain was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1976. He is a founding member of Fabula, a company dedicated to producing film, television, and commercials, as well as providing production services.

In 2005, he directed his first feature-length film, "Fuga".

In 2007, Pablo Larrain directed his second film, "Tony Manero", collaborating on the screenplay with Mateo Iribarren and Alfredo Castro. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

"Post Mortem" was his third feature film, starring Alfredo Castro and Antonia Zegers. It premiered at the Official Competition of the Venice Film Festival in September 2010.

In 2010, Pablo Larrain directed "Profugos", HBO's first television series produced in Chile. He is currently shooting the second season of "Profugos".

"NO" is his fourth film.

Why did you incorporate vintage cameras in order to achieve the film’s audiovisual language?

We decided to shoot in the same format used to shoot practically all the archive footage in the film. As a result, we achieved images identical to those shot in the eighties so the spectator has access to this rare footage without being aware of what is archive footage and what was shot for the film. In doing so, we were able to avoid making the usage of archive material evident, creating a seamless combination of time, space and material generated with Ikegami tube cameras from 1983.

With an almost square aspect radio or 4:3, and a resolution that is unique in audiovisual technology, producing this film with analog video cameras is also a statement against the aesthetic hegemony of HD.

What does it mean that the model that was used to overthrow the dictatorship then installed itself in post-Pinochet Chile?

Rene Savvedra is a son of the neoliberal system that Pinochet imposed in this country. This is why it is interesting that he, with the same ideological tools brought along by the dictatorship, is in charge of defeating Pinochet. And he does it by inventing an advertising campaign filled with political symbols and objectives, which on the surface are just part of a communicational strategy, but in reality, hide the future of a country. To me, the NO campaign is the first step towards the consolidation of capitalism as the only viable system in Chile. It's not a metaphor; it's direct capitalism, pure and true product of advertising, taken to politics.

What does it mean for you to close this trilogy, after Tony Manero and Post-Mortem?

To close a cycle and to wait for the films to generate connections amongst themselves, Port- Mortem speaks of the origin of the dictatorship, Tony Manero about its most violent moment, and NO is about its end. Perhaps what I am most interested in is revising and revisiting the imagery of the violence, the moral destruction and ideological distortion, not in order to understand it, but in order to shed light on it. Perhaps, in time, they can contribute a look at a period filled with poorly lit and said labyrinths, as well as clumsy and oftentimes forced happiness.

Juan De Diós Larraín (Producer) earned an MBA at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and studied law before switching focus to entertainment in 2004 in order to partner with his director-brother in a company they named Fabula.

In association with Santiago-based Ef3, Fabula has produced "Prófugos", the first Chilean based mini-series for HBO Latin America, a chronicle of drug smugglers on which Pablo Larraín has been responsible for the overall direction of the show. A ratings success since its debut in 2011, "Prófugos" has already spawned a spin-off in Brazil.

Last year the Larraíns also produced Fabula's first English language film, Abel Ferrara's "4:44 Last Day on Earth", starring Willem Dafoe, Natasha Lyonne and Anita Pallenberg. It was their premier co-production with Paris-based Funny Balloons, which was also involved with "NO" as international sales agent.

Juan de Diós Larraín produced nine features before "NO." The first was "Fuga", Pablo Larraín's 2006 debut as a writer-director and is otherwise notable for the presence of Alfredo Castro in the small role of Claudio.

Daniel Dreifuss (Producer) was born in Scotland, raised in Brazil and has lived in LA for the past eight years. He holds an MFA in Producing from the American Film Institute.

He began his career at the MPAA-Motion Picture Association of America and has also worked at Paramount Pictures in worldwide strategy.

Daniel is the Head of US Programs for the Latin American Training Center and the Co-Creator of the Immersion Week for Ibero-American Filmmakers. The event, which takes place in LA during AFM, has brought over 130 Ibero-American producers and directors to the US to foment co-productions. Past collaborators include IFTA, NALIP, HBO Docs, Focus Features, IM Global, WB, CAA, WME2.

In March of 2010, Daniel was appointed the Representative for the Rio de Janeiro Film Commission in the US. With his company, Filmed Imagination, he has been working on a diverse slate which includes literary adaptations, remakes and original projects, both as US titles and co-productions with Spain, Brazil and other countries.

Jeff Skoll (Executive Producer) is a philanthropist and social entrepreneur. As founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation, Participant Media and the Skoll Global Threats Fund, he is bringing life to his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity.

As the first full-time employee and first President of eBay, Jeff developed the company's inaugural business plan and led its successful initial public offering. eBay has since become the world's largest on-line marketplace, connecting hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers. eBay's transformational trading platform democratized economic opportunity throughout the world, empowering individuals to become successful online entrepreneurs.

After pioneering the creation of the eBay Foundation through the allocation of pre-IPO shares, Mr. Skoll then founded the Skoll Foundation in 1999. It quickly became the world's largest foundation for social entrepreneurship, driving large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world's most pressing problems. Its flagship program, the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, currently supports 85 leading social entrepreneurs whose extraordinary work serves the neediest populations in over 100 countries.

The Skoll Foundation also co-produces the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. The Skoll World Forum unites acclaimed social entrepreneurs with essential partners from the social, finance, private and public sectors. Each year, the Skoll World Forum attracts 800 distinguished delegates, including such renowned world figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the Honorable Mary Robinson, Dr. Paul Farmer, and Nobel Laureates Al Gore, Muhammad Yunus, Jody Williams, and Dr. R.K. Pachauri.

In 2009, Skoll founded the Skoll Global Threats Fund. Its initial focus is on five global issues that, if unchecked, could bring the world to its knees: climate change, water scarcity, pandemics, nuclear proliferation and Middle East conflict.

Jeff founded Participant Media in 2004 with the belief that a story well told has the power to inspire and compel social change. Participant's films are accompanied by social action and advocacy campaigns to engage people on the issues addressed in the films. Jeff has served as Executive Producer on over 33 films to date, which have collectively received a total of 5 Academy Awards® and 22 nominations. Participant's films include, among others, "Good Night, and Good Luck", "North Country", "Syriana", "An Inconvenient Truth", "The Kite Runner", "Charlie Wilson's War", "The Visitor", "The Cove", "Countdown to Zero", "Waiting for 'Superman'", "Food, Inc.", "The Help", "Contagion", "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", and "Last Call at the Oasis". In 2008, Participant launched TakePart.com, an on-line Social Action NetworkTM that enables people to learn, inspire, connect and get involved in major issues whichshape our lives.

Jeff received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto and an honorary Doctor of Public Service from Santa Clara University. Jeff's other recent honors include Barron's 25 Best Givers (2010, 2009), Huffington Post's "Ultimate Game Changer in Entertainment" among the world's top 100 game changers (2010), Environmental Media Awards Corporate Responsibility Award (2010), the Producers Guild of America's Visionary Award (2009), Global Green USA's Entertainment Industry Environmental Leadership Award (2009), Business Week's 50 Most Generous Philanthropists (2003-2007), Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2006), and Wired Magazine's Rave Award (2006).

Jonathan King (Executive Producer) oversees development and production of Participant's slate of narrative feature films. Prior to joining Participant, Jonathan worked as both a producer and an executive for companies including Focus Features, Laurence Mark Productions, and Miramax Films. Some of the movies he has worked on include "Dreamgirls", "The Lookout", "Finding Forrester", "Studio 54", "Guinevere", and "Judas Kiss". He started his film career in MGM/UA's New York office, scouting books, theater, and independent films.

Jonathan currently serves on the board of advisors for the Outfest Legacy Project, a partnership with the UCLA Film and Television Archive that restores and preserves important works of queer cinema. He also serves on the Dean's Advisory Council of the Florida State University Film School and on the board of directors of the John Alexander Project, a new non-profit dedicated to nurturing and supporting innovative investigative journalism.

Pedro Peirano (Screenplay) is best known for the popular 2009 comedy-drama "The Maid" (La Nana), which he co-wrote with director Sebástian Silva. The film received international acclaim and, among other honors, won two important prizes at the Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award. Silva and Peraino also co-directed and co-wrote "Old Cats", which won awards at the 2011 Cartagena and Sarasota Film Festivals.

Peraino received this year‘s World Cinema Screenwriting Award at Sundance for "Young and Wild", an honor he shared with Camila Gutiérrez and Marialy Rivas, who was also nominated as Best Director in the World Cinema-Dramatic category. Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín produced the film, having previously presented another Silva/Peraino collaboration, "La vida me mata".

In 1988, the year the NO campaign triumphed, Peraino and Alvaro Díaz directed and shot a controversial documentary," Nunca digas nunca jamás", featuring the deposed dictator's son, Augusto Pinochet, Jr.

Peraino has worked extensively in television as a writer, director and voice actor.

"NO" is based on Referendum (Plebiscito), an unproduced play by Chilean novelist Antonio Skármeta, one of the many who went into exile once Pinochet seized the presidency from Salvador Allende, relocating briefly to Buenos Aires before settling in West Berlin.

His first writing credit came after his defection, a television movie about events in Chile called "La Victoria" produced in Germany in 1973 which he co-wrote with director Peter Lillienthal. He has subsequently worked as a writer and director for film and television in both Germany and Chile.

During his exile he wrote and directed a film inspired by the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, "Ardiente paciencia", (released in the U.S. in 1983 as "Burning Patience"), then refashioned it into a best-selling novel. English director Michael Radford adapted it to film in 1994 as "Il Postino", which garnered five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture in addition to numerous international accolades and great popularity.

In concert with director Fernando Trueba and Jonás Trueba, he wrote "The Dancer and the Thief", set in newly democratic Chile, Spain‘s official entry for the 2010 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Skármeta returned to his native country in 1989 after the overthrow of the dictatorship and was named Chile‘s ambassador to Germany from 2000 to 2003. Last year his novel Los días del arco iris won one of the richest and most prestigious prizes in world literature, the Premio Iberoamericano Planeta-Casa de América de Narrativa, an honor valued at $200,000.